Law Enforcement's Militarization Goes Beyond Occupy

Sooner or later — and I hope it's sooner, but I have my doubts — it is going to dawn on Americans that they really don't want to live in Pinochet's Chile, even for a few minutes every couple of years when the G20's in town. There is simply no excuse for the use by police of military weaponry against American civilians engaging in protest. It is an invitation to official sadism and all the horrors that follow after it in our society and our politics.

Piper immediately suffered intense pain as mucus discharged from her ear. She became nauseous and dizzy and developed a severe headache. Since then, Piper has suffered from tinnitus (ringing of the ears), barotrauma, left ear pain and fluid drainage, dizziness, and nausea. She still suffers from permanent nerve damage.

And she was a bystander.

I know that it's become the height of unreason now to ask the president to step up and, you know, lead on something, but this is a national problem and it demands a national response. It was only a matter of time before the massive looting of the country's wealth occasioned a general response from the people whose wealth was looted. Americans are slow and they love their American Idol too much but, when they move, they move. None of this is going away. It's beyond the mayors of the various cities. If they're not Michael Bloomberg, who seems to think he masterminded the Normandy campaign in clearing out Zuccotti Park, then they're paralyzed by the fear and being led around by the nose by their business communities and that their own police department. It would be helpful if the president would mention, in public, that people exercising their fundamental First Amendment rights of free speech and free assembly should not be made to bleed from the ears. When did we decide to look at our fellow citizens as enemies who deserve to be subject to military assault? When did we vote on that?

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